Motorcycles should be banned - rant

I am sorry about your sister and hope she is ok.

I have never had an issue with bikers, I find the majority curtious and aware that horses can be affraid. We live on a major road which is a popular motorbike route and never once have I had any trouble. Its car drivers I have issues with, they think its perfectly ok to yell abuse and beep horns or just whiz past with an inches space between you, hence I was in the foot by a wing mirror and my ankle sliced open.
 
Whilst I agree with this thread being a RANT I really, really hate it when just because of one incident a whole group of people are tarred with the same brush because of one incident.

In my experience I have rarely come across a bad motorcyclist, I have found them to slow their bikes, leave plently of room and try and pass quietly. Some might say a motorcyclist has more right to be on the road than a horse because they do pay road tax whereas we don't pay anything.
Whilst driving though I have come across plenty of horrendously rude horse riders
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As for carrying a 'dressae whip to deal with motorcyclists' what planet are you on? It is behaviour like that that riles people and means the next poor (probably polite) horserider bears the brunt.
 
I accept that everyone is allowed to rant but to wish people dead is really uncalled for. I bet not one of those bikers wished you or your sister dead!! (My best friend's brother was killed on a motor bike when we were 14 - I remember my dad, in his job, having to "scrape" him off the road, and knowing him!!)
Glad to hear that your sister and the horse are ok
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As well as rescuing Carrot and Spud, the BHS runs an accident / near miss register.

Can i suggest you register this incident with them.

Regarding my cyclists comment, I should have specified blokes ( always) travelling as fast as they can on racing cycles giving me no space at all. They all absolute gits and if they are stupid enough to speed into my whip, i hope it stings. No i do not swing the whip at them - tempting though.

No doubt they would say they are race training, but i doubt if the police or court would care if they caused an accident.

The trail cycle riders are meet on bridleways are a totally different breed - i like them
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My partner is a biker & you think he's an idiot & should go out & be killed on a main road!
That's disturbing & very offensive. Why can't they ride around in a big group? The last I heard this was a free country. If you were down a side road maybe they didn't see what was happening, or felt that getting past would resolve the problem faster rather than slow down & prolong the situation. Or maybe they were a bunch of selfish idiots, they don't deserve to be wished dead though.
Some horse riders are rude & stuck up do you think it would be acceptable for us all to be wished dead?
A statement like that actually says more about the original poster, than it does about bikers in general.
I just hope that your posts don't get put in a bike forum or magazine, as it shows us all in a very negative light.
 
KW33
if you reread my original post you will see I am quite supportive of bikers. along with the rest of the village, I may not appreciate being deafened repeatedly on a sunny day, but I absolutely acknowledge that they are very considerate to horse riderss.

its the morons on racing cycles who whizz way too close to my horse at high speed who are the object of my disgust.
 
It's not the vehicles in any way shape or form that are the problem......it's stupid, ignorant, impatient, foolish, arrogant, people who drive/ride in them that cause the problems!!

I'm not a particular fan of motorbikes, but I must admit that a majority of the ones I've come across have an awareness of mortality and have slowed down.

Generally if I see or hear something coming that's not a car, I'll get off the road at the nearest point and wait til it's passed anyway.

This does sound like something a bit out the ordinary though, I'm not surpirsed you're as pissed off as you are.
 
As stated earlier I find most motorcyclists very courtious but in this case when there was such a large number of them their leader should have stopped them and asked them to turn off their engines while the horse rider could safely get well away from them.

I have ridden many thousands of miles on the roads including Central London over the many years I have been riding and have found that in many cases other road users have to be told what to do when one finds oneself in a difficult stuation.

In the case of the motorcyclists I would have stopped them and got myself out of the way so as to let them pass safely.

This is why I always wear a Hi-Viz long sleeved jacket as well as various other Hi-Viz items on my horse as it is much easier for other road users to see my hand signals.

If I want someone to stop I point at them and then hold the palm of my hand up at them. This normally does the trick.

When riding on the road I ride defensively always trying to deterine what is both in front and behind me so that I can take appropriate action.

Many other road users do not understand horses and I am afraid that we just have to be on our constant guard.

Some years ago there was a case where some road racing cyclists where signalled to stop by some horse riders and they failed to do so. One of the riders was seriously injured and the matter was taken to court. Any official cyclist road race must now be accompanied by escort vehicles at the front which if they see horseriders they are obliged to stop the cyclists (otherwise the organisers insurance policy is invalidated and all the cyclists become personally liable for any accident or damage that is caused by them).

We need to take every possible precaution to protect both ourselves and our horses and my advice is to always wear Long Sleeved Hi -Viz Jackets and other Hi-Viz items on the horses as well as taking the BHS Road Safety Course and test.

I appreciate that many people do not like wearing H-Viz but please consider the safety of your horse.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'm not a particular fan of motorbikes, but I must admit that a majority of the ones I've come across have an awareness of mortality and have slowed down.

[/ QUOTE ] That is because all motorcyclists regard every journey as potentially their last ride. Not because we ride so fast, but because car drivers are so unaware of us, that they regularly pull out in front of us, or turn across / in front of us, these days they even try to race or side swipe us.

Car drivers have always done this, I was nearly killed when I was 19, because a driver asked his passenger, an elderly registered blind lady, if there was anything coming on the main road, she said 'no', she was wrong and I spent 8 weeks in hospital, 8 1/2 hours in surgery and 6 months on crutches as a result.

Motorcyclists are the most aware road users you will encounter, we have to be, our lives depend on it. Yes I ride fast, yes my bike is loud (loud bikes save lives) and yes it does have both superb brakes and an engine kill switch (for the times I encounter horses).

I apologised to the OP earlier on behalf of the biker community, it is a shame that apology was not accepted in good faith. I do understand her anger, my OH had an almost identical situation, but with an old man spinning the wheels of his car right next to the horse she was riding, as he attempted to get up a steep hill. Being put in unnecessary danger is upsetting, to say the least, but it is one of the risks we run, taking our horses on the road.

I really hope I don't get killed on my bike, I suspect my wife, two kids and my horse would really miss having me about.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Although I appreciate what you're saying, it's a bit like calling every car driver an idiot after ONE causes an accident.

A horse that freaks at the sight of a group of bikers is not IMO 'quiet' nor suitable for a nervous rider on the roads.

On the other hand, yes, alot of bikers ARE idiots, but at the same time so are alot of car drivers.


[/ QUOTE ]

Include many horse riders in that too!

There are a lot of stupid motor cyclists on the road, but in my experience, the majority of bikers are very considerate when they meet horses, the excepuions generally being those on noisy little trials bikes etc zooming around off-road.
 
Im glad your sister wasn't injured, or your horse. I agree some people are so ridiculously inconsiderate. If only bikes spooked, then maybe theyd be a bit more sensible, though of course some motorcyclists are very good and stop for you.

My pet hate is dog walkers!! Ugh, some just let the irritating little things run up to any horse, and my loan horse goes absolutely ballistic around them. Again some people are very good and hold them, but one time a man had 2 dogs and must have dropped the others' lead, as he had one on a lead and the other trotting towards us, he made a pathetic attempt at catching up , the dog ran underneath, and my horse spooked violently and squealed and tried to kick it. And in the pinewoods which are brilliant for hacking they take dogs on the bridlepaths!! GRRRR you can take dogs anywhere!
 
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